1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical image processing apparatus and a medical image processing method that process images obtained by continuously imaging an organ, e.g., a heart or a lung whose shape cyclically varies.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, with advancement of a medical imaging apparatus, one image can be acquired in a short time. Further, a plurality of images can be substantially simultaneously acquired.
Such a medical imaging apparatus enables so-called 4D imaging that continuously acquires three-dimensional volume data. Utilizing data obtained by 4D imaging enables displaying three-dimensional images like a moving picture. This is useful for, e.g., observing, e.g., how a heart contracts in three-dimensional images.
On the other hand, in medical diagnosis, it is often the case that a current clinical state is compared with a past clinical state. Furthermore, when performing such medical diagnosis by using the above-explained three-dimensional images, three-dimensional images respectively obtained from a current study and a past study must be aligned and displayed. Moreover, in this case, to compare images acquired in the same time phase in a shape change cycle of an organ, an operator must individually adjust display timings for two images and this operation is a great burden on the operator in a conventional example.
As explained above, in the conventional example, a technology that synchronously displays images obtained by continuously imaging an organ whose shape cyclically varies in different periods is not realized, and a burden on an operator is increased, which obstructs efficient medical diagnosis.